


Kaiju BlueRaspberry

by smileybagel



Series: Candies and Sweaters [3]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Conspiracy, Gen, Halloween, Nervous Habits, Planning Adventures, Platonic Life Partners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-16
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-29 13:39:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1006084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smileybagel/pseuds/smileybagel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh and Mako think ahead a bit too much and Tendo's there to help them along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kaiju BlueRaspberry

**Author's Note:**

> Before I go any further with this series, I swear Herc/Raleigh is not the endgame couple even if it seems like it will be.

After the first jaegers started taking down the deep-sea beasts, some of the candy companies latched onto the fact that kaiju bled blue blood (try saying that five times fast) and applied it to their products, which led to Raleigh having quite of few cases of his tongue and lips being dyed bright blue. The wrappers of the candy bore kanji that read the company's name (with it being based in Japan) and its flavor underneath, reading 'Kaiju BlueRaspberry'. Surprisingly, the public loved the candies, despite them being named after the toxic substance that was claiming more lives everyday. Raleigh came into contact with them when he was working on the Wall going up around Japan's coasts, his co-workers giving him the candies after they noticed him popping hard caramels whenever he had to work the top of the wall. A few times they even gave him a whole bag of them, and they never missed the chance to tease him about the side effect of sucking on something that was blue.

Raleigh didn't mind, though. It gave him a chance to learn a few more phrases in Japanese.

Now, it's been three years since Raleigh worked the Japanese Wall of Life and he can hardly remember the slightly sour taste of kaiju blue raspberry, and if he were honest with himself, he misses the blue tinge his lips and tongue got from licking at the candy. It was fun to stick his tongue out at people and see their reactions.

Raleigh's smiling when he thinks about this, the memory of the candy prompted by the blue jell-o that is currently wiggling on his lunch tray as he makes his way through the mess hall. Some people call out to him, Gipsy's techs, but he just smiles at them and mouths 'next time' before making his way to a empty corner of a table filled with engineers from Cherno. Raleigh chooses this spot because Mako is there, and he likes to be wherever Mako is, obviously. He sits across from her, teasingly flicking the corner of her book (some text on jaeger tech) after he sets down his tray. The plastic fork goes from his tray to his hands and then the cup of jell-o is empty by the time Mako finishes her page and sets the book down next to her half-finished lunch. There's a smile playing on her lips and Raleigh copies it.

"I've been thinking about what you said in the Drift." Mako starts, smile still on her lips and with her hands now clasped in her lap. Raleigh cocks an eyebrow and reaches for the bread roll on his plate, happily pilfering Mako's too when she doesn't smack his hand as he reaches for it.

"I said a lot of things in the Drift. You'll have to be more specific, Mako-chan." He tacks on the -chan prefix mostly because he knows Mako bristles up in annoyance whenever he does so. It's cute, and he likes the blush that rises to her cheeks.

"About Halloween. We'll need costumes, correct?"

Raleigh spends a minute to think about this, mostly trying to figure out how they'll get costumes, because duh, of course they'll need costumes. It wouldn't be Halloween without them.

"Yeah, can't have a proper Halloween without costumes, or at the very least, masks. The real question is," Raleigh leans over the table, pointing at Mako with his fork that dripping a bit of pasta sauce from his lunch, "How we're going to buy or make costumes. Chances are, no one in Hong Kong celebrates it and if they do, producing costumes is probably the last thing on their list at the moment. If we really want to buy some, we'll have to go inland somewhere in like, the States, and _those_ will probably be expensive as fuck."

Mako smacks his hand for the coarse language but otherwise remains silent, nodding in agreement and taking a sip form her milk box. She starts slurping on accident when the liquid runs out, so she sets down the empty carton and picks up Raleigh's, knowing he won't drink the dairy product. Even if he wanted it, he could just go get another one by charming the ladies who made sure everyone got their fair share.

"So, we'll have to make them. Time consuming but less expensive, but if we close the Breach this go around," They both knew that was a very big _if_. "We'll have plenty of time. I mean, it's _January_. We have nine months to plan for this."

"Nine months to plan for what, Becket boy? Wait, don't tell me." Tendo comes up to their end of the table seemingly out of no where, holding a steaming mug and a white paper bag in one hand. He sets his things down on Raleigh's side of the table and straddles the bench, his body facing Gipsy's veteran pilot and leaning against the table with his elbow up on the surface.

"Mako's pregnant, isn't she?" Mako practically chokes on her milk and Raleigh does an impression of a tomato with how red his face gets as he sputters out a reply. "You sly dog, Becket. Does Pentecost know yet?"

"M-Mako's not...! We're not like that, I mean...That's not what we were talking about at all!"

"Raleigh's right, Mr. Choi. We are like brother and sister, or as some of the techs say, _bros_." Mako makes little air quotations and Raleigh kinda melts because wow that was adorable, even if her understanding of the term _bro_ was a bit skewed. Tendo melts a little too but composes himself, wiggling his eyebrows at them and resting his chin is hand.

"Then what were you two gossiping about that takes nine months, hmm?" Raleigh regains his own composure and fingers the sleeves of his sweater, suddenly nervous about bringing up their idea to Tendo. Sure, he was one of Raleigh's closest friends, but not everyone still hung on to childish things like Halloween and trick-or-treating. Raleigh wishes he had remembered to pack a few candies before he came down to lunch, but his mind was still in shock at the time since Herc had blindsided him in the Kwoon. Tendo notices his fidgeting and his expression lights up.

"That reminds me!" Tendo grins as he opens up his paper bag and grabs a fist full of something. "Hold out your hands, Rals. I got something for you when I heard you were coming to the 'Dome. I wasn't expecting to see you in Gipsy's hangar right after you got here, so I didn't have them on me at the time."

Raleigh does as he is told and holds out his hands, cupping them together and looking at Tendo in question. Mako has the straw of her milk carton between her lips, chewing on the plastic and waiting for Tendo to reveal his surprise too. The man in question pulls out his hand and drops a pile of blue plastic into Raleigh's waiting grasp. It takes the blonde a minute to register what he was now in possession of, but when he does, his mouths splits into a huge grin.

  
"Kaiju BlueRaspberry!" Raleigh doesn't waste time in ripping open one of the packages and plopping the blue orb into his mouth. He moans around the candy and drapes himself on Tendo, pressing sloppy kisses to Tendo's cheek.

(Mako secretly smiles at the scene, it reminding her of when Yancy did the same thing when Raleigh gave him butterscotch. She wonders if Raleigh gets the connection or if he did it subconsciously.)

"Thank you Mr. Choi!" He drawls out the sentence around the candy and he still sounds smooth, as if he could easily adopt the usual cadence of Tendo's voice. The LOCCENT tech laughs at that and pries Raleigh off of him, reaching into his bag again and pulling out a sandwich.

"So what were you talking about, anyway? It's not some huge secret, is it?"

Mako answers this time, as Raleigh is too busy counting his new treasure of sweetly sour candies. "We were hoping to set up something for Halloween. Raleigh and I wish to get as many people in the Shatterdome as we can to participate, but we need costumes and a steady candy supply in order for it to happen, and neither of which are easy to come by in such large amounts."

Tendo hums around a bite of his sandwich. Respectfully, he waits until he's swallowed to reply. "Not that that's a bad idea or anything, because it's not. We all could use a little fun right now, but you guys have to remember a few things. One, we are on the brink of the end of the world. Either we close the Breach or we don't. Two, if we close the Breach, what do you think will happen to the 'Dome and everyone here?"

Raleigh and Mako do think about it, both coming to the realization at the same time. Weirdly, their drift level enables them to answer at the same time, too.

"Everyone will be gone by the time October comes." Tendo blinks at them, probably cursing jaeger pilots and their creepy unison habits. But they're right. The Shatterdome will close following the closure of the Breach and the people who made the metal structure breathe will return to their homes and families. There would be no reason for them to stay.

"Right. Three, if we don't close the Breach, well, we're all dead anyway and any people that happen to survive until October will most likely not care about Halloween. Just a guess." A very sarcastic and unnecessarily blunt guess, mind you.

Gipsy's pilots become silent at that, the only noise coming from them being the occasional clack of candy against Raleigh's teeth and thoughtful hums around mouthfuls of milk from Mako. Tendo feels bad once the silence settles in, awkwardly chewing his sandwich. It tastes like dirt now, or the color grey. Tendo thinks the color grey would taste like dirt and bad feelings. Before he can taste any more grey, Mako makes another hum, though this one is notably more excited. Both Tendo and Raleigh give their attention to her, sharing expressions of curiosity.

"Why don't we just skip ahead? Instead of having Halloween in October, we could have it a few weeks after we finish our mission. Like how people used to say...Christmas in July, but it will be Halloween in February."

"You know, Ms. Mori," Tendo smiles at her as he reaches for his coffee mug, taking a long sip before continuing on. "That idea is not half bad. We could make it work, most definitely. Given that everyone survives going for the Breach," None of them want to think about the consequences if they don't survive. "And we give everyone enough down time to heal from their injuries, should they have any, I think we could get at least half the 'Dome in on this, especially those who have their kids here."

The conversation leads to excited plan making after that, the people around them in the mess hall throwing curious glances their way and keeping their ears open for information. They don't get much, since the three Halloween conspirators start lowering their voices when they notice people listening in. A few times, Mako and Raleigh drop into conversation in Japanese, glancing at Tendo with smiles. They develop their own surprises for the J-Tech but still keep the biggest parts of the plan open to him. They start talking about who else they can count on for help, with Tendo and Raleigh urging Mako with their biggest puppy eyes to get Pentecost to help. She caves into them and they decide to recruit Newt as well, the Kaidanovsky's since they could probably get any candy they wanted, Gipsy's crew, the Wei Tangs, and Herc Hansen just so he can get his son to participate.

When they mention the Hansens, Raleigh silently thinks to himself: _"Speak of the devil and the devil shall come"_ because Hansen Jr. struts into the room with Max at his side and his father behind him. Herc throws another one of those dirty smirks at Raleigh when he sees him and Chuck narrows his eyes at their end of the table, switching from Raleigh to Raleigh's pile of brightly colored candies that he has yet to put away. Tendo falls silent when he sees the exchange, looking back and forth between Raleigh (who mock salutes Chuck just to piss him off) and Chuck. Mako follows his line of sight and rolls her eyes at them, standing up from the bench to leave.

"I will talk to sensei. Raleigh, I think I can leave the Hansens to you and Mr. Choi. It seems like you already have some form of...agreement with Ranger Hansen." By _Ranger_ _Hansen_ , she means Herc, because Raleigh knows Mako would only ever refer to the younger Australian by his given name. It's a superiority thing she carries over from her days in the Academy with Chuck, when she used to wipe the floor with him. Raleigh grins at the memory of _her_ memories and nods at Mako.

"Yes, ma'am."

Tendo just sighs and shakes his head at the two of them, intent on finishing his lunch before anything remotely related to carrying out their plans happens. He won't be running around the 'Dome scheming on a empty stomach, thank you very much.


End file.
